Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

goest."goest."shore."Lesson Helps for the Week of September 11, 1955C. Y. P. U. TOPICFor September 11, 1955LIVING A MORE CONSISTENTPsalms:CHRISTIAN LIFEI Thessalonians 5:1-2840:1-4, page 102143:4, 5, 6,119:1-5, page 3051:1-6, page 1Prayers:page 347For the zeal obtained in the SummerCamps to carry on.For the ability to practice what weknow in the new experiences ofschool life.For the Schools, the teachers, forcompanions.For the Mission Schools and missionaries.Comments by Rev. J. E. McElroy'mountain-top'Many of you have hadexperiences in the past summer, someliterally, some figuratively,we hope allspiritually. You have been brought tothe place where you can see that theroad ahead is the only way. You haveseen that the only road is the wayJesus Christ wants you to go with Him.The scripture lesson here is intendedto help us to see that our lives on theroad with Christ must show that weare making every action agree with every other action to honor Him.This chapter lends itself to severaldivisions. It would be well that the leader might make assignments of the divisions to be discussed in relation to thetopic. A very brief help with each division will give you a start.I. The first, with verses 1-11, gives adiscussion of 'day of the Lord'; the importance of His coming in His perfectrevelation. It shows the two classes ofpeople: the wakeful ones, and those whoare sleepy. Who are they? The characteristics of each? What are the resultsor the rewards of each?II. The second, with verses 12-15,gives us much to think about concerningproper attitudes toward those in constituted authority in the Church. Whatresponsibilities do we need to accept toadvance the work of the Church andour Saviour?ITI. The Standing Orders of the Gospel. Verses 16-18. 1. Always be rejoicing.2. Pray incessantly. 3. In connection witheverythinggive thanks. These God desires us to do in our Christian life. Giveexamples.IV. Quench not the Spirit, v. 19.Mountain-top experiences bring us tothe place of being more ready, moreAugust 24, 1955alert to the leadings of the Holy Spirit.The Apostle advises not to allow anything to dull that sensitivity to thatleading. Allow nothing to put out thefire of zeal for doing what the Lordthrough His Spirit teaches. What thingsin life might tend to do that? To recognize the elements that hinder us fromfollowing the Spirit is to have the battle half won. Face them. Give examples.JUNIOR TOPICSeptember 11, 1955Bess ArnottColdenham,New YorkTHE MIRACLE OF CROSSING THEJORDANScripture: Joshua 2Memory verse: "Have not I commandedthee? Be strong and of a good courage;for the Lord thy God is with theewithersoever thou(a and c)PsalmsJoshua 1:9Memory Psalm 147:1-3, page 354Psalm 62:1, 9, 10, page 152Psalm 19: 5, 6, 7, 9, page 42Psalm 18:25, 27, 28, page 33Did you have something hard to dotoday? What did you do when you cameto that big word in your reading? Why,of course, you divided it into syllables,used your vowel rules and there it was.The word that seemed impossible wasnow yours and fitted right into the sentence. Remember in the morning youhad asked God to help you through theday.The Israelites had something hard todo too. God had led them on a longjourney and now they were to enter thePromised Land. But here in front ofthem was the Jordan River which wasvery deep and wide because of the heavyrains. There were no bridges or ferryboats. They couldn't walk through it.What could they do? Can't you imaginesome of the people saying, "Why, wecan't get across. We'll have to give upthe idea"? But duty is never impossible.Joshua was their leader and God hadoften said to him, "Be strong and of agood courage; be not afraid, neither bethou dismayed: for the Lord thy Godis with thee withersoever thouNow he and his people were to "ariseand go over this Jordan." God would tellJoshua what to do and the people mustobey Joshua.You like to watch a parade,don'tyou? How orderly everything is as onegroupafter another marches by! I thinkthis must have been a bigger paradethan anyyou ever saw for there weretwoand a half million people (about onethird the number living in New YorkCity).It took the people three days to getready because tents had to be takendown, rolled up and moved to within amile of the Jordan. The priests tookapart the tabernacle where they worshiped. They also covered up the Arkof the Covenant. (This was the big chestin which the Ten Commandments werecarried.) The cattle and sheep werebrought together. Then Joshua gave thecommand and they all marched towardthe river. The priests walked in frontcarrying the Ark. The people were tofollow, staying 300 feet behind the Arkof the Covenant.Then, as the people watched, thepriests, carrying the Ark, stepped intothe water. What do you think happened?The river stopped flowing and its waterspiled up in a heap. Below them thewater flowed away. This left the riverbed dry with all the stones uncovered. Amiracle had happened and only God canperform miracles. The children remembered the story they had heard abouttheir fathers and grandfathers crossingthe Red Sea on dry land. How muchlike this it must have been! Can't youimagine those people who had said itcouldn't be done, now watching silentlyas they saw this dry path ahead ofthem?The next step was for the priests tocarry the Ark of the Covenant to themiddle of the dry river bed. Here theystood still, holding the Ark on theirshoulders. Joshua then told the people tomarch across the river, each tribe by itself. When all the people and the flockshad reached the other side, Joshua saidto the priests, "Bring the Ark to theWhen this was done, the riverwaters began to flow again and soon theJordan was rolling on as usual. The Israelites were safely in the PromisedLand. What a wonderful reward forobedience !Each day there is something new foryou to do. There will never be anotherday with exactly the same things to bedone. Do those things which you havebeen taught are right and ask God tomake you Strong and of good Courage.You may be another Joshua.For your notebooks:From each pair of words pick the onethat fits Joshua:strongcourageousdisobedient (to God)activedoubtingweakcowardlyobedient (to God)lazytrusting121